The CM SAF R Toolbox—a tool for the easy usage of satellite-based climate data in NetCDF format

Abstract

The EUMETSAT Satellite Application Facility on Climate Monitoring (CM SAF) provides satellite-based climate data records of essential climate variables of the energy budget and water cycle. The data records are generally distributed in NetCDF format. To simplify the preparation, analysis, and visualization of the data, CM SAF provides the so-called CM SAF R Toolbox. This is a collection of R-based tools, which are optimized for spatial data with longitude, latitude, and time dimension. For analysis and manipulation of spatial NetCDF-formatted data, the functionality of the cmsaf R-package is implemented. This R-package provides more than 60 operators. The visualization of the data, its properties, and corresponding statistics can be done with an interactive plotting tool with a graphical user interface, which is part of the CM SAF R Toolbox. The handling, functionality, and visual appearance are demonstrated here based on the analysis of sunshine duration in Europe for the year 2018. Sunshine duration in Scandinavia and Central Europe was extraordinary in 2018 compared to the long-term average.